Kiss
by BlueAquarisGirl
Summary: Canon, with some AU. A series of one-shots detailing the first kisses of some of our favorite characters.


As a child, Zuko had always been awkward around girls (his mother and sister excluded) and at almost seventeen years old, his experience with them was still fairly limited. It wasn't as if girls didn't find him attractive, even with the scar, it was simply that Zuko paid them no mind and sooner or later, his indifference drove them away.

This, however, was not the case with one girl in particular.

She was pretty enough, for a common Earth Kingdom peasant, but her unwavering pleasant disposition grated easily on Zuko's nerves. Though he scowled at her and was as rude as he could possibly be to her, she always smiled at him and even left good tips whenever he happened to be the one serving her tea.

He did this for three weeks, and still she came back almost every day, and never seemed any less cheerful than usual; in fact, Zuko noticed that she smiled in a certain way in his presence.

And then once, their hands had brushed just ever so slightly as he went to take her cup away…Her cheeks pink, she had quickly apologized and Zuko had fled into the kitchen with the empty cup, as if he were avoiding some sort of terrible plague. Judging by the huge grin on his face, Iroh had apparently witnessed the whole incident. When he made a comment about how red his nephew's face was, Zuko shot his uncle a glare, warning him to say nothing further.

After that, Zuko came up with a new mantra which he repeated to himself whenever certain silly, and no-doubt hormone induced, thoughts about the girl entered his mind:

_Girls are nothing but trouble; crazy, BAD trouble._

* * *

A few days after the incident, the girl approached Zuko to thank him and pay for her tea; it was a change in the routine he had become somewhat used to. He tried to act aloof, but once again, the girl didn't take the hint and started to make small-talk.

Already uncomfortable with the idea of talking to girls, Zuko disliked that she was asking questions, even if they were harmless. He didn't even blink as he lied and gave the girl his fake name and backstory; like everyone else they'd encountered in Ba Sing Se, she believed it.

"Lee." She repeated his name with a small smile. "My name is Jin…" the girl averted her eyes from his gaze and blushed, just as she had the other day, before continuing. "I…I was just wondering if maybe you would like to go out sometime…"

Zuko blinked, too stunned to say anything— if his mouth had been working properly, he would have told her no. Unable to resist a chance to meddle, Uncle answered for him: "He'd love to!"

Jin's whole face lit up. "Great! I'll meet you in front of the shop at sundown. See you later, Lee." With one last fleeting glance at Zuko, who was still not fully aware of what had just happened, she turned and left.

Iroh threw an arm around his nephew's shoulders, a large goofy grin on his face. "Now, Zuko, there are a few very important things you should know when it comes to taking young ladies out…"

* * *

By the time Zuko realized that he would be spending his evening in the company of the girl who, according to Uncle, had taken a 'liking' to him, he was far from pleased.

Iroh managed to convince the owner of the tea-shop to let them leave work early—something Zuko would have usually been thankful for, if not for the fact that his Uncle dragged him to the nearest clothing shop and spent an unnecessary amount of their money on a new outfit for him to wear on his date. While he stood getting fitted for his new clothes, Uncle tried to give Zuko 'advice'; he let most of it go in one ear and out the other, refusing to take the matter seriously. He just wanted to get the night over with as soon as possible.

It was almost dusk when Zuko arrived outside the tea-shop—Jin came just a few minutes later, wearing her hair in an up-do instead of her usual braid and what he assumed were probably the best clothes she owned.

One look at his parted and slicked back hair, and she giggled, reaching up to ruffle it. "You look so cute," she said.

Zuko scowled. "It took Uncle ten minutes to do my hair."

"I like it better the way it usually is."

Unsure of how exactly to respond to _that_ statement_, _Zuko allowed her to lead him off.

They ate at a cheap restaurant not very far from the shop. Jin attempted, with very little success, to engage Zuko in conversation and he either shrugged awkwardly or grunted one or two word answers and avoiding eye contact with her.

When a waiter innocently asked if Zuko and his 'girlfriend' wanted dessert that was the final straw—he slammed his fist down on the table and glared at the man, shouting, "She is not my girlfriend!"

His outburst attracted the attention of the other diners, but Zuko didn't care. Jin didn't even seem aware of what was going on; he had half expected her to react, but she gave no indication that she'd even heard what he'd said. When he made a fool of himself trying to juggle-he could have kicked himself for telling her that he and Uncle had been in the traveling circus before coming to Ba Sing Se-she didn't laugh or make fun of him, but simply smiled and seemed pleased with his attempt. He wondered for a brief second if she would have felt the same way, had she known that none of what he told her was true.

Would she have still liked him as much then?

* * *

When they had finished eating and Zuko had paid the bill, he turned to Jin, about to offer to walk her home, but didn't even get the words out of his mouth. She led him out of the restaurant and down one of the side streets, saying something about her 'favorite place in the city' and a 'firelight fountain'. He wasn't sure where she was taking him or what was going to happen next, but at this point, Zuko didn't mind so much.

"…the lamps make the water sparkle and reflect in the pool in the most _beautiful _way," Jin was saying as she pulled him down the street and into an open area. He could see the fountain she'd mentioned, but there were no lights. Jin's face fell. So used to her constant smile, it felt odd, seeing her frown.

The idea came to Zuko instantly as he glanced at the unlit candles on top of the fountain; he knew he would be taking a huge risk, one that could cause a lot of trouble for him and Uncle, but at the same time, he felt compelled to do it.

"Close your eyes and don't peek," he told Jin.

She did as she was told. Zuko worked fast, using his firebending to light each and every one of the candles and the lamps surrounding the fountain. Jin's expression when she opened her eyes was well worth the risk he had taken, though he was caught off-guard when she started to lean in towards him; he quickly pulled something out of his pocket and held it up between their faces. Uncle had given him the coupon earlier and said that giving it to Jin would be a nice gesture and show their appreciation for her as a customer.  
Jin took the coupon and tucked it away in her pocket. Zuko had turned away from her, trying to stay calm.

"I have something for you, too," she said, placing a hand on his cheek so he would look at her again. The warrior in him tensed at this contact and her proximity, but her voice, gentle and barely a whisper, made Zuko relax a little bit.

_"Close your eyes."_

He knew it was coming. Her lips brushed against his for less than a second, but it sent a warm, tingling feeling through Zuko like he'd never felt before. He started to move forward, intending to return the kiss, and then he stopped, flinching away from the girl. His body told him that this was right, but the guilt he'd felt earlier had returned.

"What's wrong?" the hurt in Jin's voice was evident, and Zuko winced.

_I'm not who you think I am,_ he wanted to tell her, _and I do not deserve this._

But instead, the only words that came out of his mouth were, **"**It's complicated. I have to go."

In addition to being a liar, Zuko was also a coward—he wasn't even able to look at Jin and face the damage he'd done. So he did what he did best and ran away, leaving her by the firelight fountain.

* * *

Jin did not come to the tea shop the next day, or the day after that. Zuko kept expecting her to show up again, but she did not.

The next time he saw her, he was out running errands for Uncle—she was with a young man, strolling down the cobbled streets and looking content. She happened to see him through a gap in a crowd of people. Their eyes locked as she paused; there was some resent in her gaze, along with a hint of sadness. Her companion, realizing she had stopped, turned to her with a smile and said something. She nodded and cast one last glance at Zuko over her shoulder, this time smiling as she often had in his presence.

Letting out a sigh of relief and moving on down the street, Zuko wondered if that had been her first kiss, too, and whether or not she would remember him in the same way he knew he would remember her years later...


End file.
